OBJECTIVE： To provide reference for developing pharmaceutical care and guiding resident’ rational drug use. METHODS： The residents from Huancheng community of Binhai county in Jiangsu province were chosen as objects. The questionnaire survey was conducted， and the results of investigation were analyzed statistically. RESULTS： A total of 983 questionnaires were released， and 955 （97.15％） effective respondents were recalled. The residents who “read instructions carefully” “read instructions occasionally” “never read instructions” before using drugs accounted for 61.68％， 36.44％ and 1.88％， respectively. There was statistical significance in reading drug instructions before using drugs among different education degrees and different occupations （P＜0.01）. The respondents with high educational level read the drug instructions better， and the farmers read the drug instructions poorly. “Can’t fully understand” was the main reason for those who didn’t read instructions carefully （chosen by 285 times）. The respondents paid more attention to the content of the drug instructions for indication， usage and dosage， expiration date， ADR，contraindication， matters needing attention and storage（over 60％）， respectively. Only 21.57％ of the respondents could “fully understand” the drug instructions. There was statistical significance in understanding level of the respondents to drug instructions among interviewees with different ages， different educational degrees or different occupations （P＜0.01）， respectively， young people and the residents with high education level had higher understanding level， and the understanding of peasants was lower. CONCLUSIONS： Community residents have high degree of concern about drug instructions， and their understanding level is not high. There are risks to drug use in community residents.